The Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights stepped up its pressure for federal or state legislation to protect airline passengers from long tarmac delays, releasing its report card for 2007 that puts a higher number on such incidents than the federal government's reports.
The coalition issued its report card as it kicked off a multi-state "passenger rights tour."
DOT data for 2007 showed 8,576 tarmac delays of two to four hours and 276 delays of four hours or more. But the data do not include delays for flights that ultimately are canceled or are diverted to other airports. It also excludes the smallest U.S. airlines and international flights.
The coalition, from media reports and calls to its passenger hotline, added 162 canceled or diverted flights it said were stuck for four hours or more, including about a dozen stuck for six to 10 hours. That boosts the DOT total by about 58%.
Its report card gave an F to American, Continental and Delta based on factors that included the number and length of their tarmac delays and anecdotal information about how its passengers were treated.
A New York State law that took effect Jan. 1 threatens airlines with a $1,000 fine per passenger if they do not provide passengers "adequate" food and water, fresh air and usable toilets if they are stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours. Similar legislation has been introduced in several other states.
The rights tour, led by coalition founder Kate Hanni and research director Mark Mogle, began in Washington on Feb. 26 and 27 and was scheduled to go to Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pa., and Trenton, N.J., before ending in New York on March 5. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are considering passenger rights laws, and March 5 is the day of a court hearing in New York on another airline challenge to the state's law.
"Right now the amount of time you can sit on the plane is indefinite. They don't have to give you water, food, anything. They don't have to let you off the plane at all. That's less rights than a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention," Hanni said during a speech on Capitol Hill last week.
The Air Transport Association fired back with a statement declaring that it was "well aware of the serious but complex problem of extended flight delays," and that it does give priority to the health and safety of its passengers and crews. The ATA pinned part of the blame for lengthy delays on an "antiquated air traffic management system" and blasted Hanni for a "rush to judgment based on conjecture and sensationalism" not only on tarmac delays, but also on topics such as airline mergers and onboard medical emergencies.
But Hanni isn't going away. Last week, she unveiled a new public relations weapon in the coalition's arsenal: audio recordings of calls to its stranded-passenger hot line. Hanni played the recordings for the assembled media on Feb. 27.
Hanni said she also played the recordings for airline executives and other participants on Feb. 26 at the first meeting of the DOT-created National Task Force for Developing Model Contingency Plans to Deal with Lengthy Airline Onboard Ground Delays, of which she is a member. Hanni added that she has a lot more calls she could play, including about 9,000 on her iPod.
To contact reporter Andrew Compart, send e-mail to [email protected].